Goods and/or services that are components of customers’ products
Customers expect unique value
- High level of quality
- First-rate benefits obtained through use of these components
- Flexibility and tailoring to customers’ needs
- Frequent innovation and component improvements
Strong brand
Specialty Products: Production
Typically produced using a batch process
Production’s trade secrets provide a strong competitive advantage
Employees assign ownership rights of their intellectual property (IP) to the firm
Trade secrets are an invisible, but major contribution to a firm’s value
Protection can extend indefinitely
Specialty Products: Marketing
Builds effective relationships with profitable customers’ decision makers
Grows common-sense view of why a product concept solves real-life, customer problems
Looks beyond current view to predict what customers will demand in the future
